Projects
Projects: Projects for Investigator |
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| Reference Number | ES/S008241/1 | |
| Title | Governance of Sociotechnical Transformations | |
| Status | Completed | |
| Energy Categories | Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Energy system analysis) 33%; Not Energy Related 67%; |
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| Research Types | Basic and strategic applied research 100% | |
| Science and Technology Fields | SOCIAL SCIENCES (Business and Management Studies) 50%; SOCIAL SCIENCES (Development Studies) 50%; |
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| UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation | Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Other sociological economical and environmental impact of energy) 100% | |
| Principal Investigator |
Professor A Stirling No email address given Sci and Tech Policy Res Unit University of Sussex |
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| Award Type | Standard | |
| Funding Source | ESRC | |
| Start Date | 01 November 2018 | |
| End Date | 31 October 2021 | |
| Duration | 36 months | |
| Total Grant Value | £352,581 | |
| Industrial Sectors | ||
| Region | South East | |
| Programme | Global Challenges Research Fund | |
| Investigators | Principal Investigator | Professor A Stirling , Sci and Tech Policy Res Unit, University of Sussex (99.997%) |
| Other Investigator | Dr p Johnstone , School of Business Management &Economics, University of Sussex (0.001%) Dr R Cairns , School of Business Management &Economics, University of Sussex (0.001%) Dr J Atela , UNLISTED, African Centre for Technology Studies (0.001%) |
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| Web Site | ||
| Objectives | Drawing on three extensive bodies of prior research at each participating center - sociotechnical imaginaries (STIs) and the co-production of scientific and social orders, pathways to sustainability, science and decision-making in global sustainability governance - the project will address two interlinked sets of questions concerning mutually associated past and prospective transformation efforts across three areas (energy,agriculture, and urban digital environments) in five countries (Germany, India, Kenya, UK and US):1. Understanding COMPLEXITYHow do sociotechnical imaginaries, that is, collective visions of desirable and attainable past and prospective transformations, converge or differ across countries, sectors and time - and what do those similarities and differences reveal about the complex linkages between the economic, social and material dimensions of transformation? What do these imaginaries tell us about shortfalls in prior efforts at transformations toward sustainability in particular, with regard to who governs, by what means, and with what consequences for affected groups?2. Governance IMPLICATIONSHow can a deeper understanding of the complexities of transformation, motivated by nation-specific or case-specific STIs, inform more effective and equitable governance? What are the political and practical implications of accounting for complexity in transformation? How, in particular, can understanding the links between the economic, social and material dimensions of technological transformations illuminate the spectrum of alternative pathways and the preconditions for successful transformation to sustainability in the three crucial sociotechnical areas in all five countries? Which globally shared imaginations offer most promise for future policy development? | |
| Abstract | The Governance of Sociotechnical Transformations (GoST) project will focus on transformation processes in three areas of crucial relevance to sustainable development, relating in particular to pressing imperatives in countries of the Global South: energy systems, agriculture, and urban digital infrastructures. Each implicates intricate North-South linkages that must be better understood for global sustainability efforts. Adopting a systematic comparative approach, GoST will use sociotechnical imaginaries as a conceptual tool to make sense of how collective imaginations of transformation have determined present conditions.Many challenges in the three focal areas are related to the prevailing imaginary, and solutions may require radically new imaginaries. Through analysis of two interlinked parameters of transformation (dimensionality and temporality) across five nations (Germany, India, Kenya, UK, US), leading research centers in each will examine, in cooperation with key stakeholders, the differences between imagined and experienced states in each focal instance of transformation in each country. By rethinking transformation through these lenses, GoST presents a methodologically innovative,integrative, empirically grounded approach that goes beyond usual characterizations of transformation as a linear process of development. Expected outcomes and impacts: GoST will demonstrate feasible choices among alternative pathways for enacting socially progressive transformations towards sustainability, producing insights of immediate practical importance regarding how such transformations can best be governed in each selected area: by whom (Call Theme 1), to what ends, by what means (3), and with what welfare consequences for affected groups (2) | |
| Publications | (none) |
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| Final Report | (none) |
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| Added to Database | 07/08/18 | |
